Potato Pizza Rounds

Yield: 10 servings ( 3 rounds per serving)

3 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 medium potatoes, scrubbed, cut into ¼-inch slices

2 oz. turkey pepperoni (about 30 slices),
chopped
¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated ½ t. salt, or to taste

2 t. dried basil leaves

1 t. dried oregano leaves ½ t. garlic powder

Method: Preheat oven to 425°F. Spoon 1 T. olive oil on large nonstick baking sheet; spread evenly with pastry brush to coat. Arrange potato slices on baking sheet; bake 10 minutes or until pale golden. Turn potato slices over; cook 6 minutes or until fork-tender and beginning to lightly brown. Combine pepperoni, mozzarella, jalapeño, Parmesan, salt, basil, oregano and garlic powder in medium bowl; toss until well blended. Remove potatoes from oven; spoon equal amounts (approximately 1 T. per slice) pepperoni mixture on top of each potato slice. Return to oven; bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese begins to melt. Remove from oven, drizzle remaining olive oil evenly over topped potato slices. Let stand 5 minutes to allow flavors to absorb. Serve immediately for peak flavor.

Recipe is courtesy of the Idaho Potato Commission.

of Corrieri’s Formaggeria and Vinea Wine & Spirits, Nashville, Tenn.

That’s the challenge. In contrast, there are ways to address the issues and turn out signature pizza appetizers with a good food cost that don’t make guests so full they stop after the first course. And, with the proper setup (and crust), the mini pizzas don’t have to take long to prepare.

MAKING IT WORK

Corrieri usually does pizza appetizers for catering. “The dough is cheap, then with the toppings, you can charge accordingly,” he says. He likes to keep his appetizer food cost at 20%. Appetizer pizzas also work well when he runs appetizer specials for happy hour. “It’s still a good food cost, even offering discounted appetizers.” He pushes the “sharing” idea, then cuts the pizzas into odd numbers. If there’s an even number of people at the table, “rather than argue over who will take the last one, they are likely to order another round of appetizers,” Corrieri says.

The four Faz restaurants of Faz Restaurants & Catering, Pleasanton, Calif., sell oval-shaped pizza appetizers made from 6-7 ounces of dough cut into squares or slices, and chef/owner Faz Poursohi says it doesn’t take away from pizza entrée orders. “One appetizer pizza doesn’t go that far.” Plus, “if you sell a pizza, you’re ahead of the game. You aren’t serving the bread,” which is free to guests but costs the restaurant.

Poursohi sees a great future for pizza
appetizers. “They are very entertaining, and
you can make it on the grill, a flat grill, the
oven—all kinds of ways. It’s good for the
family or gatherings, it’s very refreshing, and
it will be around a long time,” he says.

The 104 venues of BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., added pizza appetizers to the menu two years ago. They are good, shareable and quick, says Ray Martin, vice president of culinary development. By quick, he means that from the time guests order the appetizer (made with thin-crust flatbread), they should have it on their table in 7 minutes maximum. The restaurants have it down to 1 minute prep time, 4 minutes in the oven and 1 minute to cut, plate and serve.

Without the proper setup, Martin admits that the appetizer could be challenging. Some restaurants may try to build in too much complexity or lack adequate staff to manage it, making for slower service and unhappy, impatient guests. Since the pizza appetizers cook much quicker than entrée pizzas, the cook needs to watch them more closely to prevent ruining them, he says. Also, thin appetizer pizzas require more handling and, thus, space. They are baked on a screen, transferred to a wooden pizza peel to cut, and then transferred to a serving plate.

Pizza appetizers work better for the bar than for the restaurant at Italian eatery Jasper’s in Kansas City, Mo., because they take 15 minutes to prepare, and they slow down the kitchen, says chef/co-owner Jasper Mirabile Jr. He has three crusts in his arsenal, and for quick appetizer pizzas, the tortilla or ciabatta bread “crusts” make the most sense.